Just Say It
by Icognit1
Summary: Kyon doesn't believe in the simple notion of "good" and "evil". Was he even given the full picture? Maybe don't take on more than you can handle.
1. Chapter 1

Have you ever had experiences with the supernatural?

Okay, take it from a realist like myself: That is a terrible introduction. As if it was specifically engineered to drive people away... which might have its benefits, actually.

It was the beginning of high school, my very first day in fact. And no, it wasn't some dramatic turning point of my life.

I hadn't found latent psychic powers lingering inside me. I wasn't approached by someone dressed in a trench coat, whispering "follow me inconspicuously". My thoughts did not reach for the vastness of space, I was just wondering whether I could have stayed up a little later the day before.

Either way, that was soon pushed aside by my new school's entrance ceremony, finding my assigned classroom, and some idle chatter before the teacher came. Then, as is unspoken tradition, everyone introduced themselves to the rest of class. Just your name, a couple of quick words, maybe about your hobbies, addressing rumours about you, or...

"... am not interested ordinary humans."

Oh boy. "The odd one out", is it?

I turned around as the surprisingly pretty girl behind me completed reciting her christmas wish list for the year, and probably every year prior.  
Aliens, time travellers, "espers" and "sliders"? Well, only if you know the magic word, missy.

"That is all."

There was admir- well, exceptional resolution in the tone of her voice. The determination with which her eyes were now scanning the classroom made it feel like a well-practiced first-day ritual, though she didn't seem the type to repeat herself.

Somehow the suspense in the air still hadn't reached its peak and with the girl's eyes now staring back at mine I couldn't help but voice a remark, trying to match her serious tone.

"Was that supposed to be funny?"

"Wh-What?!"

Apparently she wasn't used to being talked back to. Noted, it won't happen again.

"Uhh, next!"

Ignoring her furious glare still locked at me, I turned back around and miss "Suzumiya" behind me retook her seat with an irritated huff. I didn't remember seeing her talk to anyone before, so I probably hadn't actually worsened her mood by much. Regardless, I made a mental note to apologize to her later.

And so, as the first day of classes came to an end, I nearly would have forgotten.

"Hey, about earlier, I didn't mean to -" The girl behind me completely ignored me and finished packing her belongings, then rushed out of the room before I had finished my sentence. So what I had said either must have hurt her beyond apology, or she was just grumpy for the sake of it and would have maybe already forgotten about it.

I chose not to let it bother me.

* * *

When I arrived the next day, it all came back to me the moment I saw her again. Still frowning and looking off to the window, as to make sure I wouldn't accidentally enter her view.

Whatever. I'm not the center of the universe.  
She wouldn't hold a first impression's grudge for that long.  
Then again, with a couple of minutes left, and nothing else to do...

Call me desperate, I made another attempt. It would count as good deed of the day.

"About yesterday, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you ..." Was that too nice? I'm not trying to "win her over" or anything. Back to the point. "... but you were serious, right?"

The girl, Haruhi, decidedly waited before turning her head and looking at me. "So what? Are you an alien?"

"No." I could have just said nothing, but it might be better to prevent possible misunderstandings.

"Then don't waste my time talking to me!" It appears as though swiftly turning away from people was among her favourite pastimes.

"Okay." Should I... I turned around first, not to play it up, "Just let me know if you need anything."

Another indignant "humph" ended that "conversation", if you can call it that. My lord, saviour, and new best pal classmate, "Taniguchi", called it that.

* * *

I ended up hanging out with him and Kunikida, a friend of mine from middle school, during break periods.

"Forget it!"

Over the last half-hour, he had carefully laid out the contents of Suzumiya's criminal record. Apparently they had gone to the same middle school.

"She has dated just about everyone at some point, just to break up with them shortly after."

"What did you expect, were any of them aliens?"

My joke didn't quite get through, visibly confusing him. What's the expression, "wearing your thoughts on your sleeve"?

"Urgh, come on, don't freak me out like that! One of her type is enough for the entire class, no, the entire school! Besides, there's plenty bigger fish in the sea." - Remind me, those are the ones that eat the smaller fish, right? - "Like Ryoko Asakura. She has to be ..."

I didn't pay much attention to his further ramblings. Everything important had been said. Taniguchi's character had been established as shallow teenage boy hunting for girls.

Assuming that a quarter of his stories about her were close to the truth, which was still up to debate, Haruhi Suzumiya's introduction had been appropriate. And the way she kept to herself showed it had been effective.

I had said my lines, my role in the play had been taken care of. These pathetic thoughts clouded my mind on my way home that day. Frozen still, I watched a crying woman at the train station. It wasn't the place for me, a complete stranger, to talk to her.

* * *

 _ **(author's comment:**_

 _ **everything**_ _ **written here has a cynical edge, don't take offense**_

 _ **this is attempt #3, experimental/crack-y and a little over-the-top because the others kept getting too long for my liking (this was a close call too)**_

 _ **not 100% compatible, but aiming not to get too OOC (esp. reg. non-Kyon)**_

 _ **heads up: a week of stagnancy means this story has been abandoned**_

 _ **)**_


	2. Chapter 2

It was my first month of high school. While there's only so much excitement I could bring up in light of that, I still tried my best getting to know people and making favourable first impressions. That included listening in on surrounding conversations, laughing at passing jokes, pacing your looks at people you weren't quite sure whether you'd seen before; you know how it goes.

As had been the case in my prior classes, there were distinct friend groups that reassembled to resume their chats at every opportunity. Not many "outliers" as myself...

Actually, people would probably group me with Taniguchi. Now there's an unpleasant thought. He insisted on taking me and Kunikida for walks around school grounds, which he was quite obviously just as unfamiliar with as we were. Then he reliably derailed any conversations we started towards the topic of girls. And he sure had a lot to say, most of which made us a little uncomfortable whenever any unfortunate subjects were in the vicinity.

But of course, I digress. As you might have guessed still on my mind, seated right behind me was Haruhi Suzumiya. I didn't notice her ever talk to anyone, though after her unconventional introduction there is no doubt everybody in class would remember her.

Whenever in class, she patiently remained at her seat, a constant expression of irritation dampening her otherwise rather stunning appearance. "Just let something strange happen already," her eyes seemed to shout either at the blackboard or out of the side window at the world beyond. If that was decided by her mood, I couldn't tell which option was worse.

At the start of every break however, her impulsive side took over, combining her astounding athleticism with her utter disregard for other people's safety to rush off to who-knows-where, to do who-knows-what. If this was the closest I would ever get to a bullet in flight, I was glad to have remained unscathed.

"Off to another club probably." Her personal antithesis, Taniguchi, seizing the moment to chime in and bestow more of his wisdom upon me. She was apparently in the process of joining every club in school to check it out, but refused to stay in any. Seems to be a pattern...

"Hang on a second, how do you know about that? Don't tell me you're stalking her or something."

Kunikida decided to stand up for him. "Everyone's been talking about it, Kyon, and I even noticed it myself. Don't you remember that argument we saw just yesterday?"

Thinking back, we had witnessed some commotion. So that must have been about her joining or leaving clubs as well.

"Those chicks were Mio Yokota, straight A, class 3-3, and Rika Takano, A-, class 3-1. The presidents and, if you ask me, highlights of the Volleyball and Handball clubs."

Thank you, Taniguchi. You just reminded me of why I have to leave again.

* * *

As teachers and students alike shifted into higher gear, the slog of school slowly stabilized. Now three weeks in, I had memorized our class schedule. The days were on the verge of seemingly blurring and blending into eachother.

On a Friday like this, however, I didn't really worry about every day being a new opportunity. The anticipation for the weekend had already cut off the energy supply for all those heavy thoughts.

Early yet again, I mentally cycled through classmates and stared at empty seats.

At this point, I might as well return to Haruhi Suzumiya.

I had hoped for her to have cooled off a little, since we had clearly gotten off on the wrong foot. But then again, her curt demeanor didn't seem to differentiate between me, an enemy of the state, or everyone else. Which begs the question: What would the "right foot" even look like with her?

She had also arrived early that day and stared ahead at the yet-to-be-cleaned blackboard. The only thing that ever changed about her were the extravagant hairstyles she kept coming up with on a daily basis. Those were a mystery of their own. Usually you'd think it might be about attracting attention, but so far she had never been interested in conversation.

Well, I probably had nothing to lose.

"Hey, I was just wondering -"

"Think first, then get to the point. And only if it's important."

I strongly doubt that I was interrupting anything. That might rank the blackboard stare as worse... anyway, I already knew what I was going to ask.

Important? Not exactly. What would be important to her? Well, how about...

"... wondering about your ... speech from the first day." Hopefully I'd remember it correctly. "Any particular reason you listed those things specifically?"

The girl sighed out some steam, before answering surprisingly calmly. "Not really. Just a lowest common denominator type of deal."

What do they have in common then, making you sound insane?

"I guess anything supernatural or strange would do. But it should be some actual, tangible mystery, not just some random ghost story. I just can't take those seriously."

Her tone when answering me was noticeably different. On the softer side - for her standards - ; it felt like gigantic weights had begun lifting from my shoulders.

And so far, I could follow. Not that I'd personally go around searching for time travellers, or anything of the like. But I guess everyone has to confront reality at their own pace.

My classmate had averted her eyes from me off to the side again, letting out a little disappointed huff, as if asking, "So that's all?". She didn't expect me to suddenly pull out a leather suitcase, filled to the brim with "infallible evidence" of something-or-other, did she?

"Remember to quit staring when you're done." That unexpectedly harsh comment made me wince a little, and I had already halfway turned around before fully processing it. _*When I'm done*._

"Actually, another thing," - awkwardly returning to look at her - "those last two things? 'Espers' and 'sliders'? I haven't really heard of those before..."

Now I found myself being stared down again, angrily. Probably judging whether I was mocking her. Or maybe planning my murder, that was a slippery slope.

"I just thought... you might want me to... know, so... in case..." - In what case? Realizing that _*this*_ was the reason she had told me to "think first", I gave up on that sentence with a sigh.

"Espers are people with ESP."

O-Okay, so ESP-ers. In a different context I would have thought that to be some statistics number, like the GDP. Spoken out loud by Suzumiya it must mean something along the lines of...

"Extra...-Sensory Powers? As in, psychics?"

"Perception. But, yeah."

"Okay. And what about -"

Everyone around us suddenly rose to greet the teacher, so I quickly followed suit. That last explanation would have to wait until the next break.

I tried to figure it out on my own, but "sliders" just sounded way too generic. Like the name of some Manga or Anime, maybe with an accompanying brand of flimsy plastic toys. Without another hint, that track wouldn't get me anywhere.


End file.
